Switch



F. 5. mass.

SWITCH.

APPLlCATlON HLED AUG.9. I920.

1,389,899. PatentedSept. 6, 1921.

2 SHEETS SHEET L SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.9. 1920.

1,389,899. PatentedSept 6,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- PATENT OFFICE.

FLETCHER S. RIGGS, OF MARSHALL, TEXAS.

SWITCH.

T 0 allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLETCHER S. Riccs, a citizenc f the' United States,residing at .Mar shall in the county of Harrison and State of exas, haveinvented new and useful lmprovements in Switches, of which the followingis a speeification.

This invention relates to electric switches t ams for its object therevision of a switch,usedinconjunction with a signahng jdevicefjncludingfive lights, the construc- .tion qf.the switch being such that any oneof outer four lights may be separately genergized that any two oppositeones of the four lights may be energized, or that all of thesfour,lights may be energized simultaneously the central or fifth light beingcapable of independent energization.

izAn, important object is the provision of a of this character whichincludes two operating levers,:one of which is singly operable; wherebyto,, energize any one of the separatedi hts, and, theother of which ismovable w en itisdesired to energize any pair bilights or both oppositepairs.

additional ohject is the provision of a aswitch of thischaracter whichwill be .slmplaand inexpensive .in manufacture,

hi hly eificient in use, quick in operation, durable in service, and ageneral improvement in the art..

With uthe above and other objects and advantagesin view, the inventionconsists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings inwhich l is a longitudinal sectional view through my switch,- 40 1 Fig. 2is a plan view with the handle in section,

'Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig.1, I 1

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 3 showing difierent positionsof the lever,

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing my device in use. ,,R ferring moreparticularly to the drawingsfthe: numeral 10 designates a disk ofinsulating material which serves as the base of my device. Secured uponthe outside of this base 10 is a shell 11 of metal which ishemisphericalin shape and which is pro vided at its point most remotefrom the base 10 with a cross-shaped opening 12 includingarms 13, 14, 15and 16.

Specification of Letters Patent.

inner periphery-of the shell 11.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

Application filed August 9,1920. Serial No. 402,154.

Extending centrally through the base 10 is a screw 17 providedimmediately below the base with a clamping nut 18 and carrying above thebase a contact disk 19 formed with a handle 19' and this disk 19 isformed with outwardly projecting segments 20, 21, 22 and 23. Arranged atpoints ninety degrees apart are screws 24, 25, 26 and 27 which areconnected with lamps 28, 29, 30 and 31, respectively. Associated withthe contacts 24, 25, 26 and 27 are wire contacts 32, 33, 34 and 35,respectively, each of which has its lower end coiled, as shown at 36,and engaged upon the corresponding contact screw andclamped against thebottom of the base 10 by a clamping nut 37. At its other end each ofthese'contact wires 32, 33, 34 and 35 has its upper end reflexly curved,as indicated at 38. i Associated with the shell 11 is an operatingdevice comprising a central post 39 carrying a handle 40 and alsocarrying an outer shell member 41 which is a portion of a 5 here andwhich is disposed against the outside of the shell 11. Alsoassociatedwith this post is an inner shell 42 which isa portion of asphere and which engages .against the A coil spring 43 surrounds thepost 39 within the shell 11 and engages against the shell 42 and againsta nut 44 threaded upon the end of the post, the function of this springbeing to hold the shells 41 and 42 against the shell 11 with the post 39passing through the cross-shaped opening 12.

The lamps 28, 29, 30 and 31. which it is desired to energize in pairs,each has one terminal connected with a common. round wire 45 and havetheir other termina s connected, respectively, with the contacts 24, 25,26 and 27. The common wire 45 is connected with one pole of a source ofcurrent 46 which has its other pole connected with the central screw 17.The numeral 47 desi nates the independent light which is locatedoeutrallyof the four lamps above described and any suitable separateswitch mechanism, not shown, may be em loyed for energizing thisindividual light either together with or independently of energizationof the four lights above mentioned. It should be here stated that thescrew 17 is also connected with the metal shell 11.

The operation of the device is as follows:

With the disk 19 in neutral position, as shown in Fig. 3, when theoperator desires to energize either one of the lights 28, 29, 31') or31, it is merely necessary that he grasp the handle 40 and shift thepost 39 into either of the arms 13, 14, 15 or 16 of the opening 12whereupon the spider structure 48 within the inner shell 42 will engagethe bent end 38 of any one of the contacts 32; 33, 34 or 35,respectively, as the case may be, whereupon the associated lamp 28, 29,30 or 31 will be energized as the current flowing from the source 46will pass through the shell 11, shell 42, spider 48 and contact engagedby the spider to the associated lamp from which it, will return tothesour'ce.

In case it is desired to energize either opposite pair'of the lamps itis necessary to merely grasp the handle 19*,and rotate the disk liljntojsuch position that the segments 20 and 22 or 21 and 23 will engageopposite ones of the contacts 32, and34 r 33 and 35, as shown in Figs. 5and 4 res ectively, whereupon current flowing from he source willpassthr'ough the screw '17, through, the disk 19,'an d through the twocontacts enpaged by the dislrgthrough the associated amps and back tothe source. It is observed that t '6 disk 19 may be rotated so that thesegments thereon will engage either pair of contacts,

If itshould be desired to energize all four ofjt h lainssitnultaneously, it isnecessary to rotate t efdis'lr 19 so that thesegments thereon will engage all of the contacts 32, 33, 34and 35, asshown in Fig. 6, whereupon all the lights will receive current.

" Aslstated above, the independent switch mechanism gwhic'h may beprovided and whichis not shown,fmay be used for energizing theindividual li'g'ht 17 either in conjunction with or separately from theenerization of the lamps 28, 29, 30 and 31 individually, or inconjunction with their en er' ization in pairs or simultaneously.

rom the foregoing description and a stud of the drawings it will beapparent that have thus provided a simply construct ed and consequentlyinexpensive operating switch or controlling the'energization of a pluraof electric li hts which may or ma not form a part of t 'e signalingsystem. the t have shown and described the referred embodiment of myinvention, it s of 'cou'ise to be understood that I reserve the rightmake such clianges in the form, 'co'nstriictitin, and ari'angem'entofparts as will not deper'rrre a the s hit at the inven tion or'the scopeof the su joined fclaims.

Having this described my invention, 1

claim wardly extending contact members secured to said second namedcontacts and terminating in considerable spaced relation to the base, ametallic shell secured externally upon said base and of hemisphericalshape, said shell being provided in its top with a Substantiallycruciform opening having arms corresponding in 'niimber to the number ofsaid second named contacts, an outer. shell of partially sphericalformation slidableexternally upon said first named shell, a postprovided with a handle and secured through said second named shell andextending through said opening, an inner shell of partially sphericalshape conformingly engaging against the inner periphery of-said firstnamed shell and mounted'o'n said pest, a

spider member carried by said l st-named I shell, said shellbeingconnected vir'ith jsaid first named contact, and said post beingmovable into any arm of said" opening in order to bring said spidermember into" Contact with the upper endof either-font: "of httid lastnamed contacts." f

2. A switch comprising a bese rer'mea es a disk of insulating materiah abeiitral centact extendin through and securd with respect to sai base, aplurality er eq'ually spaced outer contacts extending through ifiidsecured with respect to said "base, u wardly extending contact memberssecured tdseid second named contacts and terminating in considerablespaced relation tothe baseye inetallicshell securedexternallyfiipdilsiid base and of hemispherical shape; said ehen beingprovided in its top with a subsets tially cruci-form openinghitviriQ-mmhbfiresponding in number to the number of said second namedcontacts, an outer 'slhellblf partially spherical formationsiid'abllltternally upon said first named shell, apost provided with ahandle and seeured thrpugh said second named shell and extending throughsaid opening, an inner shell of artially spherical shapeconformingl'gaengag ing against the innerperi hery idfitst named shella'nd moun'te 'on saidfl ptist a spider member carried-by said last'hamaS first named contact, and said post being too!!- able into anyarnj'ofsaid openin in order to bring said spider member uh contact iell,said shell being connected vvitlrs'aid with the upper end of either onebf 'said last nalned contacts, a s ring encircling said post within andengagin againstth'e last named shell, and a nut threaded upon "the freeextremity bf said post and engagin against the other 'end of saidspring.

3. A switch comprising "a base normed as a disk of insulatingrnate'iial,a central bontact extending through and secured with respect to saidbase, a plurality of -"rially spaced outer contacts extending throughterminating in considerable spaced relation a secured to said second nmea contacts and to the base, a metallic shell secured externally uponsaid base and of hemispherical shape, said shell being provided in itstop with a substantially cruel-form opening having arms corresponding innumber to the number of said second named contacts, an outer shell ofpartially spherical formation slidable externally upon said first namedshell, a post provided with a handle and secured through said secondnamed shell and extending through said opening, an inner shell ofpartially spherical shape conformingly en aging against the innerperiphery of said rst named shell and mounted on said post, a spidermember carried by said last named shell, said shell being connected withsaid first named cOlltaCt, and said post being movable into an arm ofsaid opening in order to bring said spider member into contact with theupper end of either one of said last named contacts, in combination witha disk rotatable upon said first named contact and having radialextensions adapted to engage either opposite pair of said second namedcontacts or all of said second named contacts said disk having anoperating handle and said first named shell bein provided with a slotfor the passage thereo In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

FLETCHER S. RIGGS.

